Ben Goldacre

An award-winning writer and broadcaster, Ben Goldacre was trained in medicine at Oxford and London and now works full time as a physician. Since 2003, he has written the weekly Bad Science column in The Guardian, where he debunks any and all unfounded scientific claims made by parties from government to journalists and pharmaceutical companies. His book Bad Science (4th Estate), published in 25 countries, has sold over 500,000 copies worldwide, topping the paperback non-fiction charts. Among Goldacre’s many awards are the Royal Statistical Society’s first Award For Statistical Excellence in Journalism, the Faculty of Public Health DARE Prize Lecture, an honorary doctorate from Herriott-Watt University, “Best Freelancer” at the Medical Journalists Awards 2006, the Healthwatch Award in 2006, and “Best Feature” at the British Science Writers Awards (twice). He was also shortlisted in the Samuel Johnson and Royal Society literary prizes in 2009. Goldacre is a frequent guest on numerous British television and radio programs and speaks regularly at conferences and events. He made The Rise of the Lifestyle Nutritionists, as well as the two-part documentary The Placebo Effect, for BBC Radio 4. He is currently producing a three-part documentary series for the BBC World Service.